MAN FRIDAY MENSWEAR THAT GIVES BACK
The brash Gordon Gekko is long gone; in his place is a far better model, says Stephen Doig
What a difference a few decades make. If Gordon Gekko was the poster boy for Eighties toxic masculinity – Michael Douglas’s alpha predator of Wall Street was the walking, talking archetype of the “greed is good” ethos – then in his place is something altogether more intelligent, sensitive and socially responsible. Call him millennial snowflake if you like, but if the banking collapse and Metoo taught us anything, it’s that placing too much faith in besuited men can be problematic (and I say that as someone who loves a good suit). Sometimes it pays to be a beta.
And this affects how men are dressing. The shoulderpadded, strong structured, suits of the Eighties era – pinstripes, bold ties, gel-slicked hair and gleaming hardware at every turn – are from another era.
Ask any tailor
on Savile Row, and they’ll tell you that the “block” – the basic shape that any suit is cut from – has changed dramatically: to be looser, easier and to allow for men’s more dynamic lifestyles, with soft shoulders, less formal fabrics and technical elements that cater to on-the-go Weworkers instead of captains of industry behind their mahogany desks. Thomas Pink – that archetypical outfitter of the Eighties Patrick Bateman banker – has adjusted the shape of their collars to sit nicely without ties, because fewer men are wearing them. Cufflinks? For special occasions, not for every day.
And it isn’t just in how we dress, it’s now what the clothes give back. Lacoste’s iconic polo shirt – beloved of collegiate country clubs everywhere – got a shake-up this week, in which the crocodile has been replaced with one of 10 endangered species. I’d rather buy something that donates to halting animal extinction than something that shows swagger in the boardroom. John Lewis has also just launched a project with the Better Cotton Initiative, which works with farmers to help in the production of sustainable cotton, to produce a series of T-shirts and tops.
And the momentous shift in how we address men’s mental health has resulted in menswear brands responding in kind, going beyond lip service and marketing opportunities to encourage men to ask for help. PR supremo Daniel Marks and writer Jack Dyson set up the Father and Son Day initiative – supported by the Prince of Wales and Elton John – to highlight the cause, with proceeds from sales of T-shirts going towards the Royal Marsden hospital.
It was that fresh sense of awareness that informed new independent shirting brand Alec IK to partner with mental health charity Calm, donating to the charity that tackles the biggest killer among men under 45: suicide. And the elegant shirts themselves – inspired by breezy pyjama styles – are the antithesis of the hard, starched, trading-floor varieties of old. Leave the City posturing aside for something more sensitive.